One of the best inventions today that is essentially good for something is the portable GPS unit. Whether or not you are on an extended driving vacation or simply heading somewhere near to home you are going to love having a GPS to steer you along the way! Do i have a special place in my heart for TomTom for some reason? Yes I do, but only because it is the only type that I’ve used so far.
My spouse and I enjoy heading off on weekend excursions with our kids to spots that we are able to drive to. I’m the driver and my spouse is the navigator, problem is she likes to sleep while I drive. There have been occasions where she’s been sleeping and I have missed a turn, and one or two where we’ve been confused with the directions we printed on the web. How great it would be to have a GPS to show us which way to go with nice massive arrows and voice prompts!
Cartable GPS have been around for a little while now and are always getting better. Like every other consumer electronics, they are way expensive when new in the store, but anyone can get a great GPS unit for rather less than you may think.
One of the first models like the cheap TomTom One XL is still a good buy today, and it is a third of it’s retail cost. The great thing about GPS is that you can easily update the maps thru the TomTom web site so the unit actually never does become outmoded. If you are satisfied with the functionality of the unit and you don’t need any of the extra features of the most recent and greatest, then why pay for what you do not need?
If you are a heavy user of a movable GPS and can use all of the awe-inspiring features that are now available then you’re in luck. TomTom at this time has units like the Go 740 Live, that will not only steer you to your destination, but you can also make hands-free calls through Bluetooth, get real time traffic, gas costs, searching powered by Google via wifi, voice recognition and more!
Should I even buy a GPS? So many cellphones have it built in, what is the point? Not everybody has a cellphone with GPS capabilities, so yeah there are plenty of us that need a real GPS unit. The great thing about buying a portable GPS is that you don’t have to pay more monthly costs like you would if you upgraded your phone to something with GPS built in. Think about it, thirty dollars extra per month for web on your phone or an one time acquisition of one or two hundred dollars? Of course if you are looking to save much more, you could buy a discount TomTom GPS for even less than that!
The one query that remains is what occurs when more and more people keep getting iPhones and others like Androids that have built in GPS in the device? No requirement for another portable GPS… Does this signal the end of Garmin and others? Only the passing of time will let us know for sure!
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